Security Nigeria - Nigeria's National Security Adviser, retired Gen. Owoye Andrew Azazi, has said the issue of terrorism has not been brought under control because the country was not prepared until now to tackle the menace at the level it is, because it was alien to the country. Rising from an emergency meeting of the National Council of State, Nigeria's top advisory body, in capital city, Abuja, Azazi told journalists that, 'I was asked to brief the Council on security issues across the country. We reviewed what we believe was the true situation. There are security issues all over, problems in the Niger Delta, crisis in Jos, kidnapping in parts of the country.

'I think the focus was on what was considered topical at this point, the issue of explosives everywhere, especially at the police headquarters, UN building. And although there are claims as to who was responsible, the important thing is that we as a nation should realize that we are facing challenges that are relatively new to us.

'It has happened in different part of the world but today it is happening in Nigeria. And we must resolve as a nation to solve this problem.

'There is a lot of sensation in the media as to what has been happening, people arrested, people not arrested, people who died and all that. The police at some point will reveal names of  those who died, people arrested and as people go to court, you get to know who is being prosecuted. But we don't want to make the nation feel so unsafe. These problems of religious sect and all that could have started maybe over 15 years ago and they have escalated up to this point.'

According to him, 'the problem is that we were not, as a nation, prepared for this new level of terrorism. The buildings we have, the public facilities we have, were not prepared for that. So, when these things happen, there is a lot of devastation. All over the world, especially after 9/11 and the July bombings in London, public facilities have been improved to say, restricted access but we have not had that.

'To solve crimes, sometimes you need a national identity database. We are trying to put that together. We are talking of putting a strategy on protection of critical national infrastructure, what do we do, what guidelines do we give to the nation on what to do about them. We are talking of public enlightenment, is it possible to enlighten the Nigerian public to make them more aware of the challenges.'

Azazi stressed that, 'the security challenges are here to stay but we don't think they will go away over night, the more the public is aware of their responsibilities, the better they could serve the security services. If we are more aware, you could pass information but the security services themselves also has to improve. If you have not had a problem, it is difficult to find solution over night, even our attitude towards the public, performance of our routine duties and is not just one security service, could be the police, the SSS, the armed forces.

'We are discussing seriously how we want to meet the aspirations of the Nigerian public and to assure you that at some point, it is always very difficult when you face this terrorist activities. But at least, we want to make sure the security services provide enough information from which you can produce intelligence; and to be more proactive. And once you are more proactive, you can do a lot to stem the tide.

'Today, as we see, a lot of work is being done by security services but when investigations are not complete, it may not be the proper thing to do to start to expose the level of investigations to the media. However, from time to time, we have tried to engage with the media either from the services themselves or myself, nor necessarily publicly this way but I have talked to the media persons at different levels, I have engaged the nation on security on radio talk shows to give the public certain level of confidence.

'A lot of issues were resolved but security is continous, you don't take all the measures one day but the need is to create awareness even in the states, that even at their level, they have to take measures to improve public safety all around the country. Generally, these were the issues that were addressed.'

Asked to state the specific issues towards tackling terrorism, Azazi said: 'we recognize the need to rejig the security architecture, what are the steps to be put in place to make sure the security services are more effective. We agree on the use of technology and you don’t acquire those things overnight. Issues like registration of sim card are properly effected. We talked about border control, how to help the immigration to make sure that there is proper border control, we talk of security in maritime environment. Those issues were addressed. But the critical thing is to keep everybody abreast that there are challenges and everybody must stand up to face the challenges together as a nation.'

He confirmed that on the Suleja bombing at the INEC office, 'everybody who was involved has been arrested. By the time you see them being prosecuted, you will see that there is no deliberate attempt by the government not to prosecute those behind the insecurity in the country. Everybody is concerned. I can assure you that we have made arrests and we will let you know in due time.'

On the escalating crisis in Jos, Azazi said he has been directed by President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare all the facts 'so that we can make a decision on what to do.'

The National Council of State consists of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of the Federation, former presidents and heads of state and governors of the 36 States.

Tuesday's meeting, presided over by President Jonathan, was attended by former presidents Shehu Shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo, former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and most state governors.

Pana 07/09/2011